Widely tunable optical parametric oscillation and visible light generation in 4H-SiC microresonators

Abstract

Widely separated optical parametric oscillation (OPO) represents a powerful method for coherent wavelength conversion across infrared and visible spectra. While such generation has been demonstrated in material platforms like silicon nitride and lithium niobate, 4H-SiC remains unexplored despite offering combined strong second-order and third-order nonlinearities with ultralow material loss. Here we demonstrate tunable, widely separated OPO generation in 4H-SiC microresonators through dispersion engineering. By optimizing the resonator geometry to achieve normal dispersion at telecommunication wavelengths and pumping at around 1550 nm, a pair of signal and idler spanning nearly an octave is generated,which represents the first demonstration of widely separated OPO in 4H-SiC. The frequency separation is tuned by varying the pump wavelength, with measured signal and idler wavelengths align well with phase-matching prediction. Leveraging the non-centrosymmetric crystal structure of 4HSiC, the generated OPO signal undergoes cascaded second-harmonic generation (SHG) and sum-frequency generation (SFG) with the pump, yielding coherent visible light at wavelengths below 700 nm. This cascaded upconversion of widely separated OPO signals represents a novel pathway for visible light generation. These results establish 4H-SiC as a promising platform for nonlinear wavelength conversion spanning from visible to 2 um region.